Memorial Park Opens 15 Years after Fukushima Disaster

Fukushima, May 2 (Jiji Press)--A memorial park dedicated to mourning the victims of the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster opened in Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan, on Saturday.

The Fukushima March 11 Memorial Park was jointly established by the Japanese government and the prefecture in an area straddling the Fukushima towns of Namie and Futaba, which were severely affected by the tsunami-triggered accident at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

The 46.4-hectare park features a national memorial hall consisting of a 16.5-meter hill, the same height as the tsunami, and an indoor memorial space.

From a flower-offering alter on the hill, visitors can overlook the surrounding area, where reconstruction work is underway, as well as the Pacific Ocean.

The park also includes an area that recreates the rural scenery as it existed before the disaster and preserves the remains of former settlements, including damaged houses.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]